


Sailing Across River Styx

by Sakhyu



Series: MIHO [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gen, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-18
Updated: 2016-09-02
Packaged: 2018-07-24 20:47:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 20,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7522540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakhyu/pseuds/Sakhyu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>'I know people called me slow, but I really didn't believe in reincarnation until I was quite literally reborn. Well, at least I looked cute with blonde hair and blue eyes' </p><p> </p><p>  <i>In which a girl dedicates herself to making the Naruto world a better place. </i></p><p> </p><p>. . .Not. <i>Truthfully, all she wants to accomplish with her second chance is her goal of keeping her big brother alive.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Heartbeat is Your Best Friend

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Insert witty I-do-not-own-Naruto disclaimer 'here'.

**Part One: Baby Days**

* * *

"What, if some day or night a demon were to steal after you into your loneliest loneliness and say to you: 'This life as you now live it and have lived it, you will have to live once more and innumerable times more' ... Would you not throw yourself down and gnash your teeth and curse the demon who spoke thus? Or have you once experienced a tremendous moment when you would have answered him: 'You are a god and never have I heard anything more divine."

―Friedrich Nietzsche

* * *

.

B . . .

. . .  . . .

My world started out with the feeling of water rushing through my ears. My eyes were squeezed shut and I could feel nothing else but soft, comfortable warmth.

. . . mp . . .

Strangely enough, I didn't feel afraid. Even when I realized―Minutes? Hours? (time did not register here in this place)―later that every thought I had dimmed and grew meaningless over time, I had no worries of being abducted or drugged.

. . . a . . . mp . . .

I sobered slightly as I dissected my last thought. Drugged? What was that? I briefly pondered the meaning of the word, only certain that it was considered something harmful, before my concentration slipped from me once again.

. . . a-dump . . .

The place I was in was quite odd. Every now and then it felt as though my world would flip. My senses were rather sluggish and my ears were constantly clogged.

It was because of this that it took me a while before I finally realized that I could hear sounds, even if they were slightly muffled.

Ba-dump . . .

No, that statement wasn't completely correct. Not everything I heard was muffled. There was something that never failed to pound reassuringly in my ears. It had made me feel safe.

Ba-dump . . . ba-dump . . .

Almost like a best friend, the thudding was something that was constantly beside me. In fact, it was something I was certain I had heard (and loved) before… before I ended up in this place.

Ba-dump . . . ba-dump . . ba-dump . ba-dumpba-dum―

My thoughts ended there quite abruptly as I was hit with a strong sense of vertigo. My surroundings expanded and convulsed, and I was suddenly aware of how that beating sound- _friend_ -sound had sped up into an almost frantic rhythm.

And―

Then―

Something ―cold air, my mind supplied helpfully, though not helpful enough to tell me where I had even learned that from―blasted my face and then my body. The mufflers on my ears were gone, and quite abruptly the world around me erupted into sounds of perfect clarity.

I gulped, taking in what was my first breath of air before I screamed.

And with that, the place exploded into what could only be described as flurries of movement and noise.

Hands touched me gently; they sponged me down, getting rid of the body fluids still clinging to my skin. I shifted weakly, though not at all in protest.

It was cold. Why was I cold? . . . What was 'cold'? Wait, no. Cold is the opposite of warm, my brain supplied me.

Finally, I was wrapped in something warm and fluffy. Curious, because I could not do this in the place before, I attempted to open my eyes. Blinking them open slowly, it quickly became apparent that opening my eyes didn't do me much good.

Everything appeared to me in a multitude of blobs. Sometimes, something would drift closer to me and I would be able to make out what seemed to be hair and maybe the bottom of a chin. Most of the time, however, I would see shapeless blobs dancing in and out of my sight.

Other times, I'd open my eyes when I awoke and would see absolutely nothing but a sea of bright white. Every time that happened, I scrunched up my face in a disgruntled manner.

Like now, after I decided to open my eyes after a nap, I was once again blinded by what little vision I had.

Something, or rather, someone beside me made a weird sound. My mind once again supplied me the action; a giggle.

That was another new thing. Unlike my current non-existent sight (I wondered if I was blind, though I couldn't help but feel a wrongness from that thought), my hearing was excellent. I could hear every thud and echo, and the world was so alive with sounds it often left me breathless.

I listened to the wind blowing and something― _birds_ , yes of course―chirping. The crunch of dirt under someone's shoe was familiar, and of course, there were multitudes of voices that filled the air.

Being aware of human speech, however, didn't mean I automatically understood it. Though my mind was able to stay lucid for longer periods of time, instead of easily drifting away, it was unable to catch every sound. A few words would register in my brain each time, but everything else seemed to fade away.

It was only what seemed to be a few days later (time was only a bit easier to measure here than the place before), did I realize that all the words I'd heard so far were in . . .

Japanese.

Ha, take that, Mom, Dad! I felt a small stab of . . . of smugness (the words came more easily to me now; much easier to me than before) at the thought. Even if Japanese was not my first language, nor my second, nor even my third (and here I wonder again what those languages were), it seems that all those years of watching anime finally paid off.

I drifted off to sleep wondering what the heck anime even was.

(And who my Mom and Dad were.)

* * *

A few more days―maybe even a few weeks―passed once more. The person who was in charge of taking care of me kept me in a bumpy, old wagon, in which we had travelled in day after day. I think it broke somewhere along the way though, because most of these days they would just take me and walk.

I liked it better that way though. Being held while they were walking was very soothing, almost like they were rocking me. They had never jostled me much.

Every day, I began to feel more and more alert. Likewise, holding onto my thoughts became increasingly easier. My vocabulary also began to improve.

Perhaps it was because of this that I began to suspect that something was wrong.

A few days later, with my thoughts even less fuzzy, I began to _know_ that something was wrong.

Like, very, very wrong.

After all this time, I had finally managed to put two and two together.

I was a baby.

A small, tiny, little _little_ (the word needs to be repeated along with its many synonyms because I was getting the feeling that I was born premature) baby.

And I certainly did not remember myself as a baby before I got to the place of, well, before.

That also soon proved to be another problem. My memory wasn't complete. I would instinctively know some words, some little and random things, but I wouldn't know how I got them. I didn't know much about myself either, at this point.

All I knew was that I wasn't a baby ―and _ohmygosh_ , had I been reborn? Ew. _Ewwww_. My brain for once decided to not supply me with information (thank, thank you), despite the fact that I probably had it stored in there somewhere. After all, I remembered being top of my class for Biology.

Anyway, I was―had been, once been?―a teenager, I think. Or maybe even a young adult.

So why the heck was I a baby now?!

Something poked my left cheek, startling me out of my thoughts.

"L . . ttle one, what's g . . . ten you thinking?" My caretaker's voice rang out, loud and clear.

That was another concept I had discovered. If I concentrated hard enough, I could now make out most of the words and noises around me. Of course, it left me tired and grumpy and in need of a nap, but being connected to the world like this made me feel much better.

I suspected that I had never studied Japanese before, but it turned out that thanks to whatever 'anime' was (and I still don't remember what that was, even after all this time), I seem to be able to understand 70% of what was spoken to me. It probably helped that I was a baby and my caretaker only used simple words with me, if any words at all (cooing sounds and babbling seemed to be some of her ―or his, even now I cannot place their voice as a female or a male―favorite things to speak to me).

Realizing that my caretaker was waiting for me to make some baby noises, I did exactly that. Cooing softly, I stretched out a tiny hand to the blob I assumed to be their face.

I had long resigned myself to looking at blobs. Somewhere between realizing that something was wrong and realizing that I was a baby, I had remembered out-of-the-blue that newborns tended to be near-sighted.

Something along the lines of being able to see 8 to 12 inches in front of their face. Or maybe it had been 8 to 15 inches.

Honestly, I was just surprised that out of all the concepts I chose to remember after being reborn, it was a random biology fact. And it was that random biology fact.

Really. I couldn't even remember my own name!

(Though I was also a bit thankful. At least I found out that contrary to my first thoughts, I wasn't blind or something.)

My caretaker either knew this lil' biology fact and was purposely trying to not let me see them, or had no clue. Judging by how no sane person would think that a tiny baby like me would actually remember them, I was leaning towards the latter.

However, I wasn't wrong in assuming that they didn't want to get close. After all, in all this time, I haven't seen their face even once. Perhaps they just didn't want to get so close to a baby?

I was again drawn away from my thoughts as my caretaker patted me on the cheek gently.

"D . . . n't worry, ch . . . ld. We're al . . . ost there . . ."

I blinked, my eyelids getting heavier. Softly, my caretaker began to hum under their breath. As I let it wash over me, I realized that it was the soft song they'd sang to me once before. The song had been very pretty, though I didn't understand all of it.

However, it was a small miracle that I recalled the pretty melody, considering how tired I was feeling. Before I succumbed to sweet sleep, I wondered briefly if the place my caretaker was taking me to was important. Wouldn't it be, considering the amount of time they were taking just to get me there?

In any case, I never did get to see my caretaker's face. After all, that was the last time I was ever in contact with them.

It was only much, much later, when I started to think back, did I realize some weird things. One was that in all the time I spent with my kind caretaker, I had never once assumed he or she was my parent.

I had never believed that they were my mother or father. I had always thought of them as my caretaker; as someone who would leave very soon. In my defense, they did.

Another weird occurrence was that on that day, I had only just woken up from a nap.

. . . It would have been impossible for me to get so sleepy again.

* * *

I awoke to cold wind aggressively biting my face. I was buried in what I felt to be a bunch of fluffy blankets (therefore, my body was nowhere near as cold as my poor face), and upon closer inspection, I seemed to be in a little gift basket.

Huh.

Upon closer, closer inspection, which involved a great deal of awkwardly flailing around, I realized that my gift basket had a rather pretty looking red ribbon on its handle―

―and that there was a note tied to my right wrist.

. . . Uhuh. Cue more flailing.

Finally, finally, after almost tipping over the basket twice, I managed to bring my tiny hand closer to my face to read whatever was on it.

波風美帆.

. . . Ugh. Of course it would be in Japanese! It seemed like whatever 'anime' was, it did not help me at all in reading Japanese. Because the note tied to my wrist was literally rubbish to me.

The wind slapped me on my face yet again, and I started to feel a definite drop in temperature. I experienced a brief surge of irrational panic, because what if my former caretaker had left me here to freeze? What if they had abandoned me to die?

Die; such a nasty word. I had never really thought about what it could mean, being reborn. Of course, to be reborn, you had to die first, didn't you? That means…I had died.

I didn't have much memories of myself, but I knew something like _this_ ―abandoned as a baby― had never happened to me before. I couldn't write everything off as time-travel. After all, I hadn't been sure before, but now I was certain that I had been happy in my old life.

If that was the case, how did I _die_?

It wasn't until I heard the hurried footsteps getting increasingly louder that I realized I was full-on wailing, tears streaming down my face and hiccups bursting out of my little mouth. If I had been any less afraid, I would have marvelled at how much noise a baby could make.

The creaking of a door being slammed open jolted me out of my sob-fest. Blinking away the tears, I focused on listening as a sharp gasp was heard.

Something warm touched my freezing cheek (what was it with people and my cheek?), gently wiping away some of my tears. The whole basket, me included, was lifted into the air and moved. Moments later, I realized the chilled air had warmed and presumed I had been carried inside.

I mentally slapped myself as I felt my irrational thoughts disperse.

. . . Of course my caretaker didn't leave me to die. If they did, would they have bothered to keep me warm and wrapped up in so many soft blankets?

I sensed my basket being set down. Immediately, they picked me up and began to fuss over me.

"Oh, you poor sweetie! Were you outside for a long time? It's so cold, whoever left you here should have at least knocked before le . . . ving!"

Whoa. That was the first time I'd heard someone talk so much. Geez, I should get a reward for being able to catch most of that.

The person (I identified her to be a woman from her voice), expertly scooped me up into her arms. She peered downward at me and cooed softly.

My breath caught.

She came into my 8 inch bubble. For the first time since I'd been reborn, I could actually see someone.

The woman was beautiful. Judging by the faint laugh-lines on her face in addition to the slightest wrinkles, I concluded her to be someone in her late thirties.

However, no matter how interesting seeing a person's face was, it wasn't what drew my attention the most. No, that was reserved for her rather strange looking headband.

It was navy blue, with a metallic piece attached to the middle. And, was that a swirly . . . leaf engraved in the metal . . . ?

Her head moved out of my range of sight and I was, once again, left to decipher the blurry blobs. However, for once, I wasn't the least bit bothered by that.

No, the unease I felt was because of that headband.

I was so sure I'd seen it before. Why? Was it perhaps the symbol of a famous clothing brand? Though that was the most probable explanation, I couldn't help but feel that it was the wrong assumption.

Ah. Wait. The poor lady was probably still waiting for me to make some noise. After all, I had been full out wailing before, right?

Using one little hand to clumsily wipe away my residue tears, I gurgled softly. The woman laughed.

"Ah, are you feeling hu . . . gry?"

She started to move away, with me still snuggled in her arms. I heard her walk, before the sound of . . . something ―the refrigerator, right― opening filled my ears. Deciding that there was probably nothing more to hear until I got my food, I decided to drift off.

By now, I felt as if the maturity of my thoughts had caught up to what they'd once been.

I wondered who was going to take care of me, as it seemed certain that I was now an orphan. But didn't orphanages (and I assume I was given to one, because while the lady seemed surprised to see me, she did not seem to be overly shocked) and giving up one's child take a lot of paperwork? Was it even legal to drop a baby on an orphanage's doorstep?

That brought up more abnormalities I hadn't thought about. Was it normal to travel by wagon? Or by walking for days (I assumed, since I don't really know how long it's been since my birth)? Didn't people have those . . . cars?

Perhaps I was in an underdeveloped country?

"Open up!"

Startled, my mouth dropped open, perhaps to make a questioning noise. I did not expect, however, something to be stuffed into my mouth.

I flailed slightly, and maybe it's a pre-built reaction included in all babies, but I started to suck whatever was in my mouth. Milk, with the tiniest hint of sweetness, filled my senses.

. . . That was quite surprising. I did not remember being fed before; had my mind skipped over it?

Soft laughter filled the air as I lazily drank my meal. It tasted pretty good, and I dreaded the time for me to start baby food. The mushy things I saw at the supermarkets were not appealing in the least.

Baby milk I can deal with. Baby food . . . not so much. And please don't get me started on puberty. Oh God. Do I really have to relive that?

"Ah, wh . . . t do you have there swe . . . tie?" Once again, my thoughts are interrupted by my (new) caretaker. This time, however, I felt her gently lifting my wrist. My right wrist.

. . . Oh right! There was a note attached to it. I had completely forgotten in the midst of all the drama.

The nice-lady-who-fed-me carefully untied the string that had the note. Seconds later, I heard her make a strangled noise.

Oh no. No no no no no. Please don't let it be something bad. What was on that note that could have been so surprising? There were only like, 4 characters!

I had originally thought that it was just my new name or something!

"Namikaze . . . Miho?" my caretaker mumbled in shock.

Wait. So it was a name. What could be so surprising about that…

. . . Huh . . . Please don't tell me I'm some criminal's love child or something. Please.

I made a soft, whimpering noise, the ones that are usually reserved for those cute and sad puppies. Immediately, my caretaker snapped out of her apparent shock.

"Oh! Did I sc . . . re you, sweetie? Don't w . . . rry, it's not . . . ing! I just need to m . . . ke sure of s . . . mething . . ."

I mentally frowned at her confusing words, before my caretaker again lifted my right wrist, this time gently taking my thumb. And then―

Owwww!

"Ohhh, b . . . by, don't be like th . . . t! It was only a lit . . . le prick! For medic . . . l re . . . sons, you see."

I started to cry, more out of shock than out of pain. Immediately, I was fussed over again. Medical reasons? Well . . . that did make sense, I guess. Don't hospitals do that with newborns, to check if they have any diseases?

A wave of exhaustion hit me and my crying quieted to small whimpers. A hand patted my cheek knowingly, and I was immediately rocked. The kind woman even started to hum a soft lullaby.

I fell asleep listening to a new song hummed by a new caretaker.

* * *

Soft noises drew me out of my sleep. I blinked my eyes open tiredly, slowly registering a flurry of murmurs and hushes.

Slightly curious despite myself, I focused on listening to what was going on.

"Hōki-san! I-I think she's waking up!"

The voice definitely sounded male, despite the high pitch. Perhaps it was a young boy? On the other hand, the boy sounded clearly panicked. Actually, I would bet that he was slightly hyperventilating.

(I tried not to feel too smug from knowing the suffix –san. Used when addressing anyone, it acted like a 'Ms.' or a 'Mr.' in English.)

"Minato-kun, please calm down. I'm sure she'll love you."

Hey! That was my new caretaker's voice! So she's called Hōki, huh? And I'm guessing that 'Minato-kun' would be the nervous boy who had first spoken.

(Yes, more honorfics! –kun is used for boys or a fellow worker, right?)

Wait . . . Minato . . . ? That sounded awfully familiar. I felt as though I was missing out on something super big, even though it was being carefully spelled out for me.

However, all thoughts about that were thrown out of my mind as I remembered the rest of Hōki's sentence. She. The woman had called me a she.

That meant I was a girl, right? I felt a rare sense of…rightness. Huh. I guess I was a girl in my previous life.

"B-But . . ."

That was the nervous boy again. I heard Hōki sigh and then I was shifted (oh, she was currently carrying me) before I was―

"Ah! No, Hōki-san!"

 . . . Dropped unceremoniously into the nervous boy's ― _Minato-kun's_ ― hands.

Uh, I wasn't a pro at caring for babies, but I was pretty sure that you didn't give them to little children. And that was what Minato was. His hands felt much smaller than either of my caretakers.

Contrary to my belief that the poor nervous boy would drop me (and I wouldn't hold it against him; he was shaking like a leaf), he quelled the trembling in his hands and took a deep breath. With soft comments from Hōki―

"Support her neck, Minato-kun. You're doing great."

―I was eventually being held by Minato rather professionally. Honestly, I feared for the children of this orphanage. Who gives random kids a baby to hold?

"Bring your face closer, Minato-kun," Hōki murmured softly "Babies as young as her can't see that far."

A pause. It was clear to even me that Minato hesitated, before he slowly started to lean forward. I watched, mesmerized, as the details of his face became more clear.

Spiky hair colored a gold that rivaled the glowing sun. Kind, cerulean-blue eyes. A small, hesitant smile coupled with cute, chubby cheeks.

The boy gulped nervously. "H-Hello, Miho-chan," his voice wavered, but he plunged on with what seemed like blind determination, "My name is Namikaze Minato. I'm your older brother."

Namikaze Minato.

Namikaze Miho.

. . . 

. . . Oh my gosh.

_Uzumaki Naruto._

It felt as if one of the dams in my brain holding back information had suddenly burst.

 _Naruto_ was an anime. An anime was a Japanese television cartoon, and _Naruto_ was one of the most famous.

I was quite fond of anime, despite my parents' dislike for it. _Naruto_ had been one of the first I had ever watched, and though I had never finished it, I had kept up-to-date with it through fanfictions and forums.

But-but. I had been reborn. And with Minato here ― _Minato_ , oh gosh, Naruto's _father_!― didn't that mean I had been reborn into the universe of _Naruto_?

Was that even possible? Then again, I hadn't really believed that reincarnation was possible, not until I was very clearly reborn. Unless Minato was a very die-hard _Naruto_ fan, I doubt I was on Earth.

. . . Wait a minute, Hōki's headband! Wasn't that a Konoha headband?

. . . So, unless they were all die-hard _Naruto_ fans, I was really in the _Naruto_ world.

"H-Hōki-san! D-Did she just stop breathing?!"

Despite the panic I was suddenly feeling, Minato's words made him sound even more panicked than I was (if that was possible). The thought was refreshing, if not a little funny.

Deciding to give poor Minato a break (in all honesty, I hadn't even started to comprehend anything he had said other than his name at this point), baby-me giggled, before I reached for Minato's bright gold locks and tugged on one gently.

It seemed to me that puberty was going to be the least of my troubles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Facts!
> 
> Minato is translated to 'harbor' in English.
> 
> Miho is translated to 'beautiful' and 'sail' in English.
> 
> That is also a reason why I picked the title I did.


	2. Developing Your Big Brother Complex

**Part One: Baby Days**

* * *

"Loving a baby is a circular business, a kind of feedback loop. The more you give, the more you get and the more you get, the more you feel like giving."

―Penelope Leach

* * *

"Ah!"

Bright blue eyes peered down at me and a little finger poked my cheek. I giggled softly.

"Miho-chan, are you hungry?"

Gurgling in slight annoyance, I reached up to take hold of some blonde hair before I started to tug it.

"Hey, hey! I get it! Stop it Miho-chan!"

One would think that this had been said in annoyance; however, the tone was anything but. My victim sounded as if he was holding in chuckles.

And that conversation basically summed up my life. In my new (and I guessed permanent) home, it hadn't taken me long before I realized something.

Minato was a terrific, _amazing_ brother.

'Nuff said.

…Okay, Okay. Yes, I get it. I'll elaborate. Please stop throwing your pitchforks and rotten vegetables at me.

When I was first put into his care, Minato had been slightly clumsy and very much afraid. It had almost been surprising to me with how uncharacteristic his fumbling had been. I had remembered Minato to be the amazing Fourth Hokage, not someone who seemed to be worried about accidentally squishing a little baby.

_Really_. I am _not_ lying. I swear Minato spent a whole week mentally preparing himself before he dredged up enough courage to hold me again.

(Had his first attempt really been _that_ bad? I mean, sure, he almost dropped me when I finally responded, but he did manage to catch me before I hit the ground...)

Fortunately, despite all his apparent first misgivings, Minato rapidly adapted to his role of being my caretaker. He was truly prodigious, and not only in ninja terms ―and no, I am not being biased.

…Even if Minato had been one of my favorite characters in _Naruto_.

He quickly found out that I liked warm milk ―heated until it was _precisely_ at 37°C― rather than anything at room temperature.

He found out that I couldn't stand being dirty, and that if I thought I needed a new change of diapers, then it meant that I _needed a change of diapers now_ or else (and _ew_. Not being able to control your own bladder was both humiliating and yucky).

He found out that I loved it when he picked me up and held me close, and that I had a growing habit of tugging his hair.

Despite all of this, I believe that I was not a fussy child. Or anything close to it. I rarely cried, I never really woke Minato up during the night ―the poor guy needed his sleep; even caring for an obedient baby was tiring― and I was always giving people around me a cheerful, toothless smile.

To the eyes of others, I was a happy child.

"Give me a few minutes, okay Miho-chan? I'll get you something to eat." I giggled again in agreement and I felt Minato set me down lightly (after gently detaching my chubby fingers from his hair), presumably so he could head over to the kitchen.

Geez. Bless Minato's heart. Did I mention that he's the perfect brother yet? He was always there for me, and seemed to magically know whenever I needed something.

Was this ability called the fearsome 'mom-instincts'? Were those actually developable and not genetic?

…Well, being waited on hand and foot by the Fourth Hokage was ego-boosting, if nothing else.

Anyway, to me, time passed both slowly and quickly. Sometimes everything would seem agonizing slow, since I was frankly only a _baby_ who could only do things like cry, eat, and poop. Other times, time seemed to move super fast. In fact, I've already lost count of how many naps I could take during a day.

I was both grateful and annoyed at this. Annoyed that I couldn't do anything, of course, but grateful since I was finally clear-headed enough to sort through my thoughts and memories.

And nooooow we've reached my main problem. Yes, I could remember most of what had happened in the show _Naruto_. On the other hand, lo and behold: most of my own memories were still non-existent.

However, that was not entirely true as well. It seemed that although my brain was completely wiped, whoever sent me here couldn't wipe the feelings in my heart.

It was the little things at first that cemented this idea. I would just have to think of something pertaining to myself, before I would start to feel _something_. The feeling of rightness when I found out I was a girl here is a prime example.

I also found out that I had most likely wanted an older brother in my past life. That revelation had actually resulted from me repeating the words 'Minato is my older brother' in my head a few times when I finally digested Minato's statement (and god, hadn't _that_ statement been a shocker?).

A soft, warm, and fuzzy feeling appeared in my chest. I had felt slightly encouraged. Applying my knowledge that I obtained from finding out my gender, I began to think of some sentences in my head.

' _I have an older brother.'_ My heart lurched. I mentally frowned. I didn't feel either rightness or any wrongness with that one. Maybe it was because I got it half wrong or half right?

I tried again.

' _I have a younger brother.'_ My heart dropped. Okay, that was dread. I probably didn't have one or dreaded to have one.

Geez, third time's the charm, right?

' _I'm an only child.'_ And _there's_ the roaring applause! Yesss. The sense of rightness! So, I was an only child in my past life.

If that was the case, what did I feel when I thought about having an older brother?

I scrunched up my face and repeated that sentence, carefully analyzing the feeling of my heart lurching. It wasn't dread, no. It felt nothing like dread…In fact, it felt like the opposite of dread. But it wasn't happiness either…

The opposite of dread…I dreaded to have a little brother…

_Of course._

Yearning! I had yearned to have a big brother in my old life. Well, if I didn't have one before then I guessed it was just a hopeless wish. After all, unless my parents went back in time (which I have to admit, the idea sounded much less far-fetched than _reincarnating in a fictional show_ ) or adopted, I wouldn't be getting an older sibling.

With that cleared up, I began to work on other things. I could remember reading some fanfictions with self-inserts (and that's what I was at the moment, right? Pfft, I remembered avoiding them like plague until I gave in and tried one before loving it, but who would have thought I'll be _in_ one), and tried to compare my experiences with the fiction.

Most of the SI/OC fics I've read had the self-inserts be reborn with their full memory intact (I quietly ranted to the heavens. Of _course_ real life had to be different from fiction. Ugh). On the other hand, having all your memories was proved to not always be the best case.

I could still remember that one fanfic I had read once upon a time, one that depicted someone who _didn't_ want to make a change in the Naruto world ―despite her future knowledge― because she had wanted to return to their old world. I remembered being disappointed at the ending despite how amazing it was, and how I hoped she would come to love the Naruto world more than her own.

It didn't happen. I couldn't understand why.

But now, I guessed I could relate. Whenever I thought about the word 'parents', a fierce love would begin to burn in my heart. Even if I could not remember my parents from my past life, I could only assume that this love I had was for them. I had loved them deeply, and still did, despite my lack of memories.

If that was the case, who was to say that I wouldn't do the same thing as the girl in that self-insert and get myself killed, if only for a chance to see my parents again?

Perhaps my lack of memories in that front was to _ensure_ that I do not do just that. After all, even though I acknowledged the fact that I loved my parents, it was just that. A fact. I did not have a burning desire to see them, since they were only faceless entities I did not even know about.

On the other hand…I knew all about the _Naruto_ world. For me to have all my memories of the _Naruto_ world…wouldn't that mean that whoever gave me them would like me to make a difference?

After all, they could have done the same thing they did with my memories, so that the most I would feel will be some harmless déjà vu. But no. That didn't happen.

And although I wasn't super obsessed with _Naruto_ , I had known most of the important facts. Like, for example, how Minato did _not_ have any sister. Minato had been an orphan.

In that case, where did I come in?

Had the character ' _Namikaze Miho_ ' died early on, in which she wasn't significant enough for the story to have any mention of her? But no, the wiki-pages for _Naruto_ characters were rather detailed. If Minato had any known family, I was sure that they would be mentioned, dying young or not.

In that case, why was I here? To change things? Did I even _want_ to change things? The story of _Naruto_ had resolved quite nicely, with the world not destroyed and the main character having little kiddies…

On the other hand, _could_ I even do anything? In this world, becoming a ninja meant everything. Especially for someone like me. That was basically the only way an orphan like me could get some power…but…

Just the thought of killing someone ―spilling _blood―_ sent shivers down my spine…

Then again, if I don't change anything, wouldn't Minato die?

… …

…

…Well, in any case I'll have to be old enough (and not a baby) before I can decide on something as important as this. Whether I liked it or not, I had enough time to think.

Contented with my new opinion, I nodded happily before I picked up on the sound of someone walking. It seemed as if I had made my verdict just in time. The sound of footsteps coming towards me grew louder and it wasn't long before Goldilocks appeared by my crib.

"Miho-chan." I was picked up by Minato with one hand, his other holding my milk bottle.

"Time for your milk, so open up Miho-chan!"

Obediently, I opened my mouth and Minato plopped my bottle nipple into it. He smiled cheerfully at me as I started to swallow my milk.

Oh, you caught that, huh? Yeah, I did say that I saw Minato smile. It was true; my eye sight has been improving rapidly since before. Though seeing details were still impossible, at least everything didn't look like blobs.

Minato continued to hold me, humming slightly under his breath as he did. Time was still hard to measure in this world, but with my constant feedings and how many times I saw Minato, I could make an educated guess. It had probably been roughly three weeks, give or take, since I was given to the orphanage.

I had no idea how long I've been alive before I came here, though, so I was still not certain of my age.

A hand touched my cheek, bringing me out of my musings. I looked up at my older brother, who was staring at me seriously. Likewise, I immediately paused in drinking milk (I was almost finished anyway) and instead gave my brother my full attention.

"Miho-chan, I'll be going back to the ninja academy next week." Minato began, taking away my mostly empty bottle.

I blinked.

Eh? Ninja academy? Well, I guess that's normal in the world of _Naruto_. I had been wondering why he had been the one taking care of me these past weeks…

"It was pure luck that you appeared at the start of my Winter Break, but that ends next week." Minato sighed lightly before smiling.

"I'll have to go to classes so the others will take care of you, but I promise it'll only be for a short time! I'm slated to graduate soon."

I blinked again at the information before giving my brother the baby's equivalent of a cheer: loud babbling. He laughed at my enthusiasm and gave me a cuddle, holding me tight. Sensing another shift in the mood, I let my babbles die down into silence.

It had been a few minutes later (I was starting to feel sleepy in the silence) when Minato spoke up again.

"Hey Miho-chan," he began to whisper, "You know, today's my tenth birthday."

_Mental yawn._ Ah, that's good to know. Happy birthday Minato.

…

Wait…

I snapped wide awake, blood pumping in adrenaline. Yes! Minato just spoon-fed me some much needed data. I've finally got a sense of where I was in the _Naruto_ timeline.

Minato was now ten years old (I should have made the connection when he said he'll graduate soon…didn't he graduate at age ten?). If I recalled correctly, he was around twenty-four when he died sealing the Nine-Tailed Fox. This meant that we were roughly fourteen years before Naruto was born, and approximately twenty-six years before the start of the _Naruto_ show.

A finger tapped me on my nose, throwing me out of my revelations. Startled ―oh no, I had forgotten to react!― I mewled quietly, staring at my brother with a little smile.

Said brother sighed, before sitting down. He seemed to hesitate, and I could almost _see_ him internally debating with himself. Finally, he began to speak to me with a gentle tone…

"Y'know…I've always wished for a family. Every single birthday…"

Oh no. My inner fangirl senses are tingling. Please don't tell me that this is the place where I start to develop a big brother complex―

"And this year, I've gotten you. It's the best birthday present I could have ever asked for."

―And, _ping_! 'Brother Complex, Level 1' acquired. Passive. Grows at a 1000000.0% rate.

The boy trailed off, before he patted my cheek. For me, however, I could only stare in awe at his clear and blue emotional eyes. He seemed so, _so_ sincerely happy, and, I, just, well―

There was just so much _love_ in his eyes. I mean, I've always known that they boy had liked me. I was his only family, and with how much he had loved his son and wife in the show, I knew that he would like me too. But _knowing_ this didn't really make me _understand_ it. I mean, I was just a _baby_. It's only been three weeks! How can someone's love grow to this amount in just three weeks?

…Aw shucks. There were tears prickling my eyes now. I know I've said this a thousand times already, but Minato is literally the _best_ brother I could have ever asked for.

Since I couldn't actually tell him that, I reached out with a chubby hand and lightly touched my brother's cheek, giggling happily all the way.

The sound of my brother's laughter was music to my ears.

(A few minutes later: "Ah, I almost forgot to make you burp!")

* * *

"Minato-kun! Don't forget your bento box!" Hōki yelled while rocking me gently.

It seemed that my brother wasn't very much of a morning person, ninja genius aside. I found it to be slightly hilarious, though I've already established in the past weeks that my vision of a super amazing Fourth Hokage wasn't really the boy I got for a brother ―at least not now. Still, it didn't make his nervousness or mistakes any less funny. On the other hand, Minato getting up late wasn't completely his fault this time. I had been unusually strung up the day before (maybe it was because I realized that Minato was leaving for school, since he began packing his bag?), and couldn't fall asleep. Minato had always insisted to keep me company until I did, and, well, I've already mentioned his growing 'mom-instincts'.

Just pretending to sleep doesn't trick him at all. I don't know if I should start worrying about my freedom as a teenager, when I get there in a decade…

"Oh right!"

Immediately, there was a distinct pause in my brother's running before it started up again, this time in our direction. Seconds later and a blond blur rushed pass us to the kitchen table, the place where a bento box sat innocently.

Wow. Fourth Hokage he may not be, but Yellow Flash indeed.

Grabbing his lunch, Minato bounced over to me. Although he said that he hadn't wanted to leave me, it was clear that he was excited to go back to school. I didn't blame him.

Spending so much time with a baby, even if she was your newly discovered family, had to be pretty boring. I was already surprised at the level of consistent care Minato provided me with. Really, though I had tried to be good, I swear the boy had the patience of a saint! He was only ten, for crying out loud. I doubt I was that responsible at age ten. Or age twenty (if I got that old before I died)…

"Be good, Miho-chan!" My brother kissed me on my forehead and I had to suppress my inner fangirl. "I'll be back in the afternoon."

And with that, the blond blur sped out of the room. I blinked, the afterimage of yellow still imprinted in my eyelids. Okay, sure, his speed probably had nothing on his future namesake's, but really, my brother was fast. At least fast enough for my baby sight for sure.

Hōki chuckled at my dazed face and gave my nose a light squeeze, making me scrunch up my face. She looked down at me before she smiled.

"Well, now that your brother isn't here to monopolize you, how about we go around and meet the other kids living here, hmm, Miho-chan?"

"…Muah?" I asked with confusion. Ah, that's right…In all the time I've been at the orphanage, I haven't seen any other kids. Sure, I've _heard_ them (those maggots were _noisy_ ), but I've never met a single one. I did think it was a bit odd, but quickly forgot about it with how Minato kept me all pampered and entertained.

Hōki nodded resolutely to my question and began walking. A few moments later, she paused in front of a room (that was filled with screaming and happy shrieking ―I felt some cold sweat gather at the back of my neck) before walking inside.

The sound died down instantly before starting up again, this time even louder than before. I internally wept for my poor ears.

"Hōki-san!"

"Hōki-kaa-san!"

"Kaa-san!"

Cries of 'Hōki' and 'mother' simultaneously filled the air. It made sense though; Hōki seemed to be the head of the orphanage here. And she was really kind. I wouldn't doubt it if she let the poor orphans address her as mother. Minato didn't though…maybe he had been old enough when he was accepted into the orphanage? Old enough to remember his ― _our_ ― parents?

"Hōki-san, who's that?"

A polite and small voice spoke up in the midst of all the noise. Really, with everyone shouting and screaming like a banshee it was a miracle that we heard it. However, once the words were said, everyone stopped talking, probably because they finally noticed me.

Cue the bewildered pause.

Hōki hummed. "Everyone, meet our newest friend. This is Minato-kun's little sister, Miho-chan."

And voilà. The place erupted with noise again. I held in a whimper as I became the center of attention, manfully withstanding all the coos from toddlers that were mentally younger then myself.

Oh the agony.

A few minutes later (it felt like eternity ―thank god that kids have short attention spans), all the kids gradually stopped fussing over me and went back to whatever they were doing before Hōki brought me to see them. I was super relieved.

"Minato-san has a little sister?"

Well, almost all of them went back to play.

The soft voice who had first noticed me spoke up again. Judging by how loud it was, I was surprised to realize that the child was probably right beside Hōki and me right now.

And since I managed to hear the voice loud and clear this time, I realized that it had been a girl speaking. Huh. Even though all toddlers had high voices, only girls had that slight melodic tint to it. It was a different timbre.

Hōki nodded. "Yes, Nonō-chan. We found her a month ago. She's really small so we didn't want to take her out right away."

I was shifted slightly and suddenly, there was a new face in front of me. It was a little girl, and she looked around six or seven years old. She had lovely brownish orange hair that framed her cute and chubby face. A set of round glasses sat on her perky nose.

I decided to play the role of a baby and giggled slightly, reaching for her. She watched me with her round, green eyes.

"Wow, she's really…small! Are you sure she got bigger?"

Hōki laughed at the words as I inwardly bristled. I was a baby. A. Baby. Of _course_ I'll look small, even to a six year old!

"Why don't you introduce yourself, Nonō-chan?" Hōki said with a smile, once she stopped laughing at me and my apparent lack of height. Nonō blinked, before smiling a cute (super cute ―she was missing one of her front teeth! _Awww_ ) smile.

"Hello Miho-chan! My name is Yakushi Nonō. It's nice to meet you!"

The girl offered me her hand and I curled my tiny fingers around one of her own. She giggled.

On the other hand, though I was seemingly happy at the attention I was getting (well, Nonō was sweet and cute, not like the rowdy kids from before! I'm totally justified!), my mind was actually going into overdrive.

Why? Well…

I was _certain_ I've heard that name before. _Especially_ her last name.

…'Yakushi'…

Was she in canon? I couldn't really recall her though, so perhaps she was a minor character? Or maybe she was the mother or relative of one of the characters? That sounded about right; she would be in her thirties when Naruto would be born.

On the other hand, I wasn't super interested in the series. I only paid a lot of attention to my favorite characters. Even then, I couldn't recall their whole backstory. I could only remember some important facts and dates.

Maybe that was why I couldn't recall her…

I tried to ignore my unease as I spent the rest of my morning with the cheerful and kind girl. And after a while, it became easier. My discomfort faded away when I realized how kind and friendly the girl was. Hōki-san stayed with us the entire time, apparently not trusting a baby to a six-year old (however, she trusts Minato? Then again, Minato was _awesome_ ).

The girl spent our time by telling me some of her favorite stories. It was enlightening, though there were a few times where I didn't understand some words. Understandable though. After all, any Japanese I knew were derived from approximately 3 years of watching anime, before I had switched to reading manga. On the other hand, it was interesting to see that many stories from my world were in _Naruto_ too, even if they were slightly altered.

For example, Nonō started us off with 'The Sleeping Kunoichi'. Then we moved onto the story of 'Kage Arthur and his Shinobi of the Round Table'. And finally, who could forget the lovable story of 'The Little Red Riding Shinobi'?

Despite my anxieties that sprouted from first meeting Nonō, I had a blast. She was kind and mature, almost like Minato. I wasn't lonely even though my brother was away from home.

After my milky lunch, I was put to bed for a nap that would last until Minato came home. I usually don't sleep for long, but the morning had been tiring and I had woken up extra early to see my brother off.

I didn't think about Nonō's last name for many years to come.

* * *

Soft voices drifted into my ears. I cowered back into my blankets, mind too muddled and tired to attempt to wake up.

" _Ah, she's still sleeping? I thought I told you that her naps start after lunch."_

The tone was slightly reproachful, almost like a wronged mother's.

" _She did go to sleep after lunch. I guess I tired her out by introducing her to the other kids…Ah, don't look at me like that, Minato-kun. She's still in one piece, right?"_

A familiar hand caressed my cheek. I snuggled into it, gripping it with my hands. My captive whimpered and someone laughed at his distress.

" _Ah…I still have homework left…but I guess it can wait."_

Rustles, and then a light press on my forehead. I mewled quietly. Someone had kissed me with a quiet whisper.

" _I love you, Miho."_

I fell back asleep with a new goal in my heart.

* * *

" _Did I even want to change things?"_

" _If I recalled correctly, he was around twenty-four when he died sealing the Nine-Tailed Fox."_

"… _roughly fourteen years before Naruto was born…"_

Screw thinking things over.

Naruto rushed into things with his bulldozing determination, and it always worked for him. Who's to say that I can't do the same thing?

I've made my decision.

Minato-niisan, my _big brother_ , was mine. _My_ big brother. I loved him _―there,_ I admitted it _―_ and he was my only family.

I wouldn't let anyone take him away before his time was up. Not even if it was Death or the Shinigami himself.

Fourteen years for me to change the future ― _Minato's_ future― and make a difference.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Facts!
> 
> Hōki-san is a member of the Hōki family. They are a matrilineal clan of medical ninja that originated from Suna and moved to Konoha. This is actually canon; check the Naruto wiki.
> 
> So far, Miho and the unnamed people are the only non-canon characters.
> 
> The SI story Miho was talking about is called Dragonfly, by Kettobase. A lovely story, please go check it out!


	3. Snakes Have Nice Hair

**Part One: Baby Days**

* * *

 "I am your parent,

You are my child,

I am your **quiet place** ,

You are my wild."

―Maryann G.

* * *

Life inched on slowly. And I meant that quite literally. As a little baby, there really wasn't much I could do ―especially since I was still so young. On the other hand, my big brother was kept quite busy every day. Minato-niisan went to the ninja academy five days a week (I've gotten better at keeping time, it seems). However, he was often gone on the sixth day as well, studying and hanging out with his friends. The seventh day was the one he had reserved for me, with my brother spending the whole day as my self-appointed caretaker.

I wasn't too upset at this, at the lack of attention from my darling brother. Even though he had to go to school, Minato spent most of his time at home with me. It was only during a hushed conversation between my brother and Hōki-san (they thought I was still sleeping) did I realize that Minato had begun to finish all his homework at recess ―instead of playing or socializing with his peers― just so he could spend his time after school with me. To be honest, I have a feeling that the only reason he spent the sixth day outside was because of Hōki's interference ( _cough,_ her scary threats).

Minato was already a genius, and being super friendly and charming aside, all geniuses were distant in some way. And now he was spending more time with _me_ (a _baby_ ) than with his friends. I _tried_ to feel guilty at the fact that my Minato-niisan was probably even more unsocial than the Minato in _Naruto_ , and genuinely succeeded for a grand total of ten seconds _._ After all, my big-brother complex was growing at an astonishing rate, so being slathered in my brother's affection just made me incredibly happy.

Ah, well, no one can say I didn't try.

(…Plus, my goal was to keep Minato alive, not improve his social skills. Even with baggage like me, the pretty boy still had a rather impressive fan-club. Hōki-san told me that there were at least a few hundred members! I didn't even know that there were that many students at the academy…)

Nonō, bless the wonderful girl, kept me company when my brother was gone. Every day, she'll have a fairytale or two for me. Sometimes, she would make up some stories on the fly. Others, she'll bring a thick tome to read aloud.

Nonō-chan always kept me entertained. If I didn't have her with me, I was sure I would have died of boredom.

And thus, time passed like this.

One month went by…

And then two months…

"Miho-chan! Ah, you are _so cute―_ "

Which brought me to my first major accomplishment as a baby. I learned how to sit without support.

…Yay?

"―and growing up so quickly!"

Of course, my brother was extremely proud, as proud as a mama bear, really. The silly boy beamed at me happily as he snapped a few pictures while I sat up in my crib.

Really, I didn't know why he looked so happy. _Sitting up_ was not something to be proud about. After all, Minato was the one who came home holding his marked assignment ―which he got _100%_ on.

How can he get 100% on what seems like a five-page essay, when he's done all the writing in his spare time at recess? Really?! I knew my brother was a genius, but this totally takes the cake.

After that, nothing too exciting happened for another few months. In fact, the most exciting thing that happened was probably my first time seeing my reflection in this world. It proved to be pretty mind-boggling, in the very least.

I mean, I _know_ my brother has blonde hair and pretty blue eyes. I know that _Naruto_ had blonde hair and blue eyes. So of course―

Eh? How is that relevant? Well, let's think about it like this.

Kushina, Naruto's mother (and omigosh, isn't that weird? If she's Naruto's mother, won't she be my sister-in-law? In other words, my brother's wife? …Ah, bad thoughts, bad thoughts. Minato's only ten right now!), is a child of the Uzumaki clan. The Uzumaki clan, who are all known for their common red hair? That meant that their red-hair gene was probably a dominant one, unless they liked to frequently intermarry.

However, Naruto instead ended up with my brother's looks. That meant that his genes were probably pretty dominant, and it was a good chance I would get them too. But knowing all of this intellectually (and I've got to say, instead of one random biology fact, it seems I have facts on a whole unit of biology), didn't mean it prepared me for when I saw my own face. I would have sworn I was looking at someone else, if the baby in the mirror wasn't copying my moves.

The first word that popped into my head when I first saw my reflection was the word 'fragile'. I was a small baby, skinny despite the healthy glow that radiated from my skin. Soft, golden hair turfs sat on top of my head like an angel's halo and my eyes were a lovely blue cerulean. I also had the same pale skin like my brother, although my face was adorned with a rosy blush.

I was a cute baby, I concluded. And, after taking another look at my bone structure, I had a sneaking feeling I'll grow up to be a pretty girl as well. If anything, I'll look like a female version of my brother.

And Minato looked very pretty, even as a boy. Unfortunately for his (currently non-existent) manliness, at ten, he was as cute as any other girl. I prayed that the Namikaze genes would hold strong, so I could grow up to at least half as pretty as him.

However, despite my slight happiness that I was as cute as a button, and that I was certainly Minato's relative ―if not his sister― tendrils of sadness snaked through my body.

They didn't go away. Big brother was late again to school the next morning.

After all, I wouldn't fall asleep that night.

.

.

.

( _I_ _couldn't help but mourn the loss of my beautiful, glossy black hair, the hair I had painstakingly taken care of everyday―_

 _The hair I could not remember_.)

* * *

Months passed more quickly with Nonō and her storytelling. I had improved from learning how to sit up to eating mushy baby food (it was just as terrible as I had thought it to be). Another two months later and I had finally mastered the ability to crawl, to my poor brother's amusement and horror.

It was one of these days (I had also graduated from my crib to a little playpen), when I heard a lot of murmurs outside my room. More than usual, anyway. Feeling a bit confuddled, I stopped entertaining myself with my stuffed toys and paused to listen. I couldn't make out any of the words. Therefore, I was grateful when Minato came in after a few minutes, hopefully to fill me in.

Well, I was _initially_ grateful. That feeling soon turned into shock and horror, however.

My brother walked in, seemingly normal, but I've been with him for basically my whole life (no matter how short it had been so far) and I can _assure_ you that there was a slight bounce and a skip to his steps. Minato looked rather tired and there was a big red bruise on his wrist, but it was his eyes that gave him away.

They were _sparkling_ with happiness.

And I knew why. After all, there was a brand new Konoha forehead protector wrapped snugly around his head.

I cocked my head slightly, trying to ignore my growing nausea. "Mi?" I asked my brother, holding out my hands.

Minato smiled at me, lips stretching to form the biggest smile I've seen from him yet. "I'm back Miho-chan." The boy kneeled beside my play-pen before gathering me in a hug.

I pouted at how he ignored my questioning tone. Although I was a clearly a baby, and was technically not supposed to understand or remember words, my brother talked to me as if I could. I didn't know if it was an effect of being a genius, or if my brother actually remembered stuff from his babyhood. That would so be like my genius brother.

Lifting my hand, I poked my brother's forehead protector rather viciously. "Mi!"

The boy laughed. "So demanding, little sister," he teased, before adopting a more serious look. "I see you've noticed my headband. As of today, I'm a genin. That means a lot of things are going to change, Miho. I won't be able to be around much too."

"…Uwah." I felt sick. I knew my brother was going to graduate soon. I knew he graduated when he was ten, and even if I didn't the boy told me that little fact himself. But I've always tried to push those thoughts away.

I didn't want to think about how my brother was only getting one step closer to his death. I knew I didn't have to worry about him dying any time soon, but just the thought of my brother, cold, _pale_ with _death_ and _drenched in his own blood_ , made me want to throw up.

That sentiment must have showed on my face, because the next thing I knew my brother had swept me into a tight hug.

"Oh Miho-chan! Don't look so sad. We're going to move into our own house, okay? And I'll be stuck with simple missions right now, so I'll be still around a lot!" The boy pulled back and fretted over me like a worried mother-hen.

Despite the situation, I giggled at my brother's frantic actions. Minato visibly relaxed when I smiled at him, my dark mood disappearing as quickly as it came. He tickled me slightly, and I shrieked in laughter.

No use in thinking about such sad thoughts, especially when I was a baby. It wasn't like I could do anything to help my brother right now. If anything, I should act as happy as I could to keep him from worrying about me.

After all, instead of being upset I should feel proud and happy. My brother was a genin now. He was a ninja. He was strong.

He was one step closer to his dream ( _…and his death_ ).

I giggled again, forcing my morbid thoughts away as I began to reach for the Konoha band on Minato's head. I wondered briefly if he would let me, a baby (who could damage it accidentally), take his obviously precious headband.

I shouldn't have doubted Minato. The boy gave me an indulgent smile and let me take it off with no complaints.

* * *

So, Minato became a genin. I knew what that meant of course. My brother would be getting two genin teammates and a teacher. However, though I knew his teacher was Jiraiya, I had no idea who his teammates were.

I could remember that the _Naruto_ Wikipedia didn't say either. Well, there _was_ a picture of his two teammates, but it didn't say who they were. I vaguely recalled seeing a chubby kid and a feminine looking kid with black hair (in a peculiar hairstyle) and black eyes. Maybe they're an Akimichi boy and an Uchiha girl?

My brother didn't talk about his days as a ninja at all. Well, it was more like he couldn't. Every day he came home looking like he was dead on his feet. Despite being slightly miffed from the lack of attention from my favourite brother, I felt sorry for him and tried to be as good as possible. Jiraiya was clearly a slave-driver.

It was only after a week had passed when I finally met Minato's team. And, well, I believe the only reason I got the chance was because my brother had been too tired to think like his usual genius self. In other words, he made a mistake…I know, I know. It was so rare I had to surreptitiously check my window to see if there were any flying pigs outside.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep her here, Minato-kun?" Hōki asked, sounding slightly worried. She had been against the idea of Minato moving out with me, and had only relented when my brother said that his teacher Jiraiya would us help if we needed it.

"It won't solve the problem in the long run," Minato said, tackling on the seatbelts as I sat obediently in my stroller. "Sensei said that the next week or two would be for training and team bonding, and that it's fine if I bring Miho-chan as long as I don't get distracted from my training. I'll find a babysitter in that time."

Hōki frowned. "If you say so…" She sighed before subtly nudging the subdued girl by her side. Nonō jumped before reaching out and patting me on my head.

"Miho-chan, I'll miss you…" Nonō whispered softly. I felt my heart break slightly for the young girl. She was clearly upset I was leaving. Gurgling slightly, I smiled at her before turning to my brother, silently asking him to do something.

"We'll visit," Minato promised both of us, before standing up. "My team is supposed to meet up soon, so we'll be going now."

The boy bowed. "Thank you for taking care of me and my sister, Hōki-san, Nonō-chan."

Hōki shook her head gently, placing a hand on the trembling Nonō's shoulder. "It was no problem, Minato-kun. I'm proud of you." She gave my brother a small smile.

I watched, amused, as my brother blushed lightly. He whispered a 'thank you' under his breath before he turned around. As for me, I gave the distraught Nonō one last smile before Minato wheeled us away from the orphanage.

Despite feeling sad for my friend, I was excited to finally be outside. I had rarely went out before, mostly because my brother didn't have the time and because I had been too young for Hōki to let me out like the other kids. This would actually be my first time going so far away from the church's boundaries.

Minato hummed under his breath, looking quite cheerful. On the other hand, I looked around with my eyes wide with delight and surprise. It was really beautiful. Konoha was full of life and colour, and for a few short seconds, I could understand why my brother threw away his life just to ensure that the village survived.

"Ah," Minato chirped, "We're here."

Startled out of my thoughts, I looked up to see a training ground…and two kids sitting on some stumps. Huh. It seemed like my brother was the last to arrive (probably because he had to get me ready too), other than his teacher. One of his teammates was the chubby kid I had mentioned before. He looked relaxed, munching on what seemed to be Pocky (I had to rub my eyes at this. Who knew that the Konoha had _Pocky_?). The other was the dressed-in-double-black girl. Her hair was tied up rather oddly and she seemed to be wearing her training clothes, the colours faded away as if they had been washed too many times. Minato pushed me over and gave them a polite smile.

"You're late," Double Black said, sounding rather surprised despite her flat tone. I was surprised too, because before puberty or not, that was _not_ a girl's voice.

My brother nodded, his polite mask breaking to look rather sheepish. "Sorry about that, Fugaku-san, Chou-san. I had to wage a war against my sister's new stroller."

My brain short-circuited.

Wait.

Pause. Time out.

Did Minato just call the Uchiha girl _Fugaku_?

As in, _Fugaku_ , the next Uchiha clan head? _Fugaku_ , Itachi's father? _Fugaku_ , Sasuke's _father_?

…Pfttt. Ha ha ha ha. So instead of one pretty boy, Team Jiraiya had _two_ pretty boys? Was that why they didn't have a female member?

(And I used to think that Sasuke's prettiness was inherited from his mother. I guess I was apparently wrong; his genes clearly came from another parent.)

Chou laughed softly as he turned his eyes onto me. "I see you've succeeded." Fugaku 'hn'ed' (omigosh it's _genetic_ ), also looking at me curiously. Minato took that as a sign to begin introductions.

"Miho-chan, these are my teammates, Uchiha Fugaku and Akimichi Chou. Fugaku-san, Chou-san, this is my little sister Miho."

I giggled and clapped my hands, giving my brother's team a beaming smile. Fugaku dipped his head in a greeting (why he expects a baby like me to understand the significance of that is beyond me) while Chou stepped forward, giving me a gentle pat on the head. I giggled again.

"Nice to meet you, Miho-chan." Chou said, smiling. Minato smiled as well, before leaning down to undo the buckles that strapped me to the stroller. Well, he tried to. My brother fumbled with them for a few seconds, clearly unable to get them open before Fugaku made a sound of disgust and stepped closer to bail Minato out. He grinned at the future Uchiha head sheepishly as he scooped me up to keep me perched on his hip. I immediately grabbed some of his blonde hair again in my fist and started to play with it.

Well, I guess it's understandable why Fugaku knew how to do that. After all, he was from a big clan. He was bound to have babysat a lot, right?

"Ohohoho!" A chuckle rang out in the air, saving my brother from his teammates' surprised stares. Everyone turned around just in time to see Jiraiya and his own teammates walk into the training ground.

My brain froze for the second time that day. Because Jiraiya brought his teammates.

Teammates.

Yes, you hear me right. The word was plural.

That meant that other than his pretty, blonde and busty medic, there was also the pale Snake Sannin standing right in front of us.

_Orochimaru was standing in front of me._

But…the man didn't seem hostile. Not at all. He seemed almost amused, and there was a faint half-smile, half-smirk on his lips. Orochimaru didn't seem like a bad man at all. Unlike all the fanfics I read, there wasn't a sudden chill in the room because of him. I didn't feel uncomfortable in his presence. His skin didn't look _that_ unnaturally pale, and heck! Even his hair didn't look gross or oily.

I took another closer look and immediately got some answers. Ah, I had almost forgotten something. We were years before the canon storyline of _Naruto._ The Sannin were not in their fifties, they were in their early twenties. If anything, I'll say they were all around twenty-three.

As of now, Orochimaru was still a loyal ninja to the Leaf.

"Sensei," Minato greeted, smiling his polite smile again. Both his teammates echoed his hello, clearly more interested in the people Jiraiya had brought along than in me.

Well, to be fair, I was more interested in the Sannin too.

"Brats," Jiraiya greeted back, ignoring Fugaku's twitch of annoyance and Chou's resigned sigh. On the other hand, my brother's smile held strong. "Meet my own team, the lovely Tsunade and Orochi-bastard."

Fugaku twitched again and exchanged exasperated glances with Chou. On the other hand, my brother wasted no time dipping into a half-bow (only half because I was still attached to his hip). "It's an honor to meet you."

Orochimaru's smirk became more pronounced as Tsunade rolled her eyes at Jiraiya. "You dragged us here just so you could brag about your new team?"

Jiraiya snorted. "Of course, look at my cute little ducklings. Don't you guys want one too?" He waved his hand flippantly towards the still-bowing Minato. A pause…before Fugaku's palm met his face and Chou groaned. My brother rose from his bow and continued to smile. I really applauded his skills in maintaining his mask.

"Yes, of _course_ I do. I can't wait to spend months on D-Ranks again." Orochimaru said rather dryly, shaking his head. Tsunade giggled.

I tried not to gape. Who knew Orochimaru jokes?

"Ah, and what do you have here?" Jiraiya took a step closer to Minato and me, peering at my face. I gave him a small smile.

"My little sister, Jiraiya-sensei," Minato bounced me slightly and smiled when I giggled. "Her name is Miho."

Jiraiya gave me an onceover, his eyes lingering on my own before he pulled back. "I knew you had a sister, but I didn't expect her to be your carbon copy," Jiraiya guffawed. "My blond brat has an even smaller blond brat at home."

Tsunade immediately whacked my brother's teacher before she rolled her eyes again. "Don't tease your student," she ordered as she glanced at my brother and me. "Or the baby. That's a cutie right there."

Jiraiya immediately started to whine playfully, and before long both the Toad Sannin and the Slug Sannin were in another argument. Orochimaru…threw his hands up as he looked up heavenward. He looked like he was asking the gods why he knew people like Jiraiya. I should know, because I was doing the same thing too.

I paused at that thought. Should I be worried that I had the same thought processes as a man who would later turn into an evil body-snatching pedophile? I sneaked a peek at the rest of Team Jiraiya. Ah, no, I shouldn't. Fugaku was glaring at the skies while Chou was staring at his Pocky mournfully. I guess everyone was in the same boat when it comes to Jiraiya and his eccentrics.

Well, almost everyone. My brother was clearly a genius, or at least just as weird. He was _still_ smiling blandly. I had been thinking about that too. I noticed it with Hōki, how my brother seemed to be so much more mature in her presence. I guess it was the same with his team too. Even his smiles seemed more like a mask rather than a kind gesture. It was sad how his team never saw the way he acted with me; it made him seem so much more human.

Tearing my eyes away from my brother, I began to watch the Sannin carefully, especially the pale man who inched away from his teammates. I have to admit, I have a lot of questions regarding Orochimaru. What facts about him were real? What parts of the fanfictions I read were fake? I felt that if I didn't get them answered now ―while the man was still loyal to Konoha― I would probably never get them answered. On the other hand, was it safe? But if I don't try, I was sure I was going to regret it in the years to come…

…I'm not even one yet. I can't walk or talk! I don't want to create my first regret before I even turned one!

Mind made up, I squirmed in my brother's grasp before I faced Orochimaru, hands raised in the universal 'pick me up' baby sign. "Wa!"

The clearing was plunged into silence as everyone froze and stared at me incredulously. My brother's mouth dropped open in shock. Tsunade's eyes widened, her left fist still frozen an inch before hitting Jiraiya's head. However, the one who seemed the most surprised was Orochimaru himself. He looked at me as if I had suddenly grown two heads.

Jiraiya was the first to recover his wits as he plunged into full-out laughter. Tsunade giggled as well, fist relaxing before dropping to her side.

It was then did my brother finally come to his senses, his eyes widening to a comical size as he stared at me in horror. "What?! No, Miho-chan! You don't want him to hold you! If anything, Jiraiya-sensei should―"

Minato paused, looking as if he was going over his words before he turned to Tsunade. "You should ask Tsunade-san to hold you!"

"Hey!" Jiraiya stopped laughing, looking slightly offended. Tsunade's giggles began to get louder. My brothers' teammates were now staring at him, though, clearly surprised at his almost maniacal outburst.

On the other hand, Orochimaru was still looking rather baffled, the poor man.

I shook my head in the negative, giving my brother a determined pout as I reached for the Snake Sannin again. "Mi!" I tried again.

Minato immediately caved to my look, his face deflating. "Fine, if that's what you want Miho-chan…" My brother walked over to Orochimaru before looking at him expectantly.

Orochimaru (who seemed to have finally recovered his senses) stared back at us and made no move to take me.

… Uhuh. Two can play that game. I gave him my most beseeching stare, my mouth trembling and my blue eyes started watering…

The air immediately chilled.

"Orochimaru…" The tone of Tsunade's voice promised pain and more pain. Orochimaru gave his teammate a glance, and immediately stepped forward to take me from my brother.

Smart guy. I totally understand why people thought him to be a genius.

As for me, I began my experiment. I reached up and grabbed a strand of the Snake Sannin's long hair, and guess what? First fanfiction fact inconsistency! His hair wasn't oily or greasy at all; it was actually very silky and smooth (I briefly wondered if he used conditioner). I began to tug the hair absent-mindedly as I leaned into his chest. And yay! More wrong facts! Orochimaru felt like a human being ―his body was warm and instead of smelling like snake (like the fanfictions claimed), he smelled slightly like fresh-cut grass. I giggled at the thought.

That seemed to break any spell that had been over the training ground. Jiraiya began roaring in laughter again, this with Tsunade joining him. Everyone else started laughing too, and even Fugaku cracked a smile.

I looked up and surprise, before I started giggling as well. My captive (and isn't it weird, calling _Orochimaru_ my captive?) looked quite awkward and was all stiff. He had a pained grimace, and for a second I had feared I overstepped my boundaries. But then I took a closer look at his amber eyes, and I realized there was no hostility. The jounin was not mad at how I had inadvertently made fun of him.

Huh…

Jiraiya treated everyone to lunch afterwards, but I couldn't get my thoughts about Orochimaru out of my mind.

He had seemed human.

The first antagonist of _Naruto_ seemed human, not the mad scientist he had become.

I pondered over this as I went back to tugging my brother's hair lightly. Orochimaru, human? That was certainly food for thought.

After all, hadn't he turned out _good_ at the end of the _Naruto_ story?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Facts:
> 
> Chou means butterfly in Japanese. He is the first OC in this story, other than Miho herself. Please tolerate him, I really didn't know who to put as the third teammate.
> 
> Miho switching from adding a suffix to a name and not adding a suffix is deliberate. Her mind is slowly adjusting to the Japanese culture.


	4. Blackmail For Future Reference

**Part One: Baby Days**

* * *

"Babies are such a nice way to start people."

―Dan Herold

* * *

"Ah, Miho-chan, you've got dirt all over your dress again." Gentle, chubby hands picked me up while simultaneously trying to pat the soil off my clothes. The owner of them sounded slightly reproachful. "Your brother will freak out."

The team dynamics of Team Jiraiya were one I had never seen before. And I guessed that would be a good thing, because their team dynamics were _terrible_. Jiraiya, like future-Kakashi, kept his head in his porn every single day. Except, unlike Kakashi who had just read the porn, Jiraiya spent his days trying to _write_ it. Every now and then, the white-haired man would throw out a few sexual innuendoes before writing them down with glee (thankfully, this had abated a bit because of my brother, who had directed an extremely frosty smile at his teacher when I had been within earshot).

"Muahhh…" I pouted slightly, eager to go back to the bushes where I could spy on Minato. Chou, my gentle capturer, huffed out a small laugh.

Akimichi Chou was kind and gentle. He would be the one to patiently follow me as I crawled away. He was the one who held Fugaku back from yelling at their teacher. He was everything that a ninja, trained to kill, shouldn't be. In fact, I had heard both Minato and Fugaku discussing worriedly (or, in Fugaku's case, in slight concern) about how Chou did not like to draw blood, even if it was that of an enemy. Heck, he didn't like to hurt or fight at all (I briefly wondered why the hell he'd chosen to be a ninja as his career). And worst of all, that 'weakness' of Chou's couldn't even be compensated by his skills. Chou's abilities as a ninja, while slightly above average and certainly nowhere near dead-last material, still left much to be desired.

On the other hand, Fugaku was snarky and broody, the shining example of a specimen from the deadly Uchiha Clan. He scoffed at the training exercises he was given. He showed clear dislike for his eccentric teacher and his hobbies. The closest to a smile we could ever get from him was a smirk. After all, he was brought up by his clan to never feel inferior (and thus, was bossy as well). Fortunately, the stubborn boy was strong, to make up for all his faults. Fugaku was easily low-chuunin level.

And then there was my brother. Honestly, while Chou fit into the character of a less shyer Hinata, and Fugaku was like the spitting image of Sasuke (not physically, of course, I don't think Sasuke would be caught dead in his father's clothes), my brother wasn't like anyone else. Minato was nice and distressingly polite. He was often absentminded when he was with his team, his face always stuffed in one scroll or another. He was the only one on Team Jiraiya who never succumbed to face-palming at Jiraiya's actions. Like Fugaku, my brother was strong, although he didn't have a clan to back him up. That didn't seem to deter him though, with how Minato was the Rookie of the Year, despite being a year younger than the other graduates.

However, though they clearly had individual faults, Team Jiraiya melded together to form a spectacular team. This team, so reminiscent of Naruto's precious Team 7, was not like their sink or float team (and sink they did). Despite Fugaku's habit of sometimes questioning or disobeying Jiraiya's orders ("Hey! Brats, as my subordinates, help me escape from those girls chasing me!") and his own bossy nature, Fugaku listened to Minato with no complaints. Chou, despite his reluctance to hurt, did so without a second thought under either his sensei's or Minato's order. For my brother's part, he actually pulled his head out of the clouds (or in this case, his scrolls) to throw out strategies and plans that even had the smart Fugaku gazing at him with slight admiration.

I could only watch in amazement as Team Jiraiya completed any team exercise with ease. My brother's Genin team ran like a well-oiled machine.

Wiggling with a bit more fervor and slapping a pout on my face, Chou finally relented and released me. He smiled again at my happy squeal. "Try and stay out here, okay Miho-chan? Your brother's doing something very difficult and he might become distracted if he sees you."

I giggled again, internally disappointed that I wouldn't be able to spy on Minato doing his leaf chakra exercise. It was both enlightening and funny watching my brother attempt to stick some leaves onto himself via chakra.

Chou smiled again and left after he gave me a pat on my head. Fugaku stood nearby, seemingly baffled that they paused in sparring just to retrieve me from my place under the bush, but nonetheless took a starting kata stance as he waited for Chou to do the same. I watched them begin their spar with an apathetic gaze.

Well, watching Team Jiraiya spar had been interesting in the beginning. I mean, _ninja_! Fighting! Seeing it _live_! But after hours of the same exercise, I was horrified to realize that even _Minato's_ fights were starting to lose their appeal. Sure, they were good Genin, but they were still _Genin_ , and only their second week at that.

Which is why, as I watched spar number something-plus-many-zeros, I felt completely and utterly bored. Bored. Bored. _Bored_. As much as I loved spending time with Minato, being with sweet Nonō had been much more interesting!

I let my gaze wonder. Even as a baby, I had never been so bored. I couldn't even sleep it off; the noises of kunai thudding against the ground were enough to drench me in cold sweat. At least I could sympathize with Chou.

Finally, my eyes settled on the bushes the marked the entrance to Training Ground Seven. I bit my lip. Jiraiya was supposed to be babysitting me, but he was probably off somewhere (i.e. the bathhouse) ogling at girls. My brother was absorbed in his training. His teammates were sparring.

If I wanted to, I could _probably_ make a clean getaway.

… I tried to push away the guilt that resulted from the thought of making Minato worried. I was so bored, and the plan of a little adventure was like music to my ears.

So, after ensuring that both Genin were rather absorbed in their sparring, I started to crawl towards the bushes that would bring me to my freedom. Of course, it was a very subtle and slow work. I moved a bit every now and then, pretending to chase after that pretty butterfly or to get a closer look at the unique flower. But eventually, I made my way to the bushes. Taking a peek at Fugaku and Chou, who were still sparring, I inconspicuously crawled into the bushes and out onto the other side.

Ahhh! _Freedom_!

I wasn't too worried about getting lost; although my sense of direction was practically slim to none, Minato had brought me to his team's training ground five consecutive times! Even a dunce like me would be able to find my way back. Therefore, worries abated and curiosity rearing its ugly head, I threw all caution to the wind and decided to start crawling my way to my own adventure.

I didn't get far.

Bumping face-first into some feet I _swear_ hadn't been there a few seconds ago, I let out a soft whimper as I recoiled and clutched my nose. Looking past my hands that were covering half my face, I glanced upwards and almost choked on my own saliva. Whoever I might have been expecting, it wasn't _them_.

A Jounin with spiky silver hair stood there, frozen in surprise. That wasn't all, though. In his arms was a chibi-fied version of him, complete with his silver hair and wide, coal eyes.

I closed my eyes and counted backwards from five. When I was sure I wouldn't start to squeal in a totally creepy and fangirling way (and wouldn't that be weird for a baby to do?), I reopened my eyes to give the silver duo a rather baleful glance.

It seemed to break whatever spell that had been casted over us. Chibi Kakashi ―in the _flesh_ , ohmygod I need to _breathe_ ― looked away while his father, Sakumo, gave a startled laugh. The Jounin gave me a onceover, taking in the cute toad onesie Jiraiya had given me before crouching down to my level.

"Hey there, little fella," Sakumo murmured softly, "Where are your guardians?"

I cocked my head to the left, eyes still glued to baby Kakashi who apparently didn't deign me as someone worth looking at. That's right; I was ten years younger than Minato. Hadn't Kakashi been ten years younger than my brother too? (I prayed that I was younger than him, my self-esteem would take a serious blow if I was older than a guy with gray hair…)

Unable to control my urges any longer, I reached my hand out to the other baby. Sakumo tensed, but did not move away as I poked Kakashi's cheek before giggling. The silver-haired genius finally turned his annoyed eyes back onto me. I giggled again.

"Miho!"

Jumping up in startled guilt, I glanced back to the entrance of the training ground just in time to see Minato racing out, his face pinched with worry. Both his teammates followed after, appearing rather sheepish and concerned as well.

"Minato-kun?" Sakumo blinked in surprise. I did too, because I did not know my brother already knew the White Fang.

Minato scooped me up before blinking up at the Jounin and immediately bowing. "Hatake-san! Thank you for finding my little sister."

If anything, Sakumo looked even more surprised. "You have a sister?"

Chou's and Fugaku's expressions morphed from guilt into astonishment as well. Fugaku gave my brother a significant glance, clearly demanding an explanation of his connection to the illustrious ninja.

"Ah," my brother smiled at his teammates, "Hatake-san was the one who helped me enrol at the Academy. He was also my sponsor." Turning to Sakumo, Minato continued, "My sister was dropped off at the orphanage almost a year ago."

Sakumo nodded, looking thoughtful. I reached out to poke Kakashi again, but alas, my arms were too short to do it. Minato paused, his attention directed back to me as he sighed.

"I knew I shouldn't have asked Jiraiya-sensei to babysit you …"

Sakumo blinked, before his mouth dropped wide open. I giggled slightly at his scandalized face. "You got _Jiraiya_ to babysit?"

Minato shrugged. "I don't have enough money to continuously hire Genin to babysit her, and I don't know many people who would otherwise."

The unspoken words of how Minato didn't have many people he trusted were heavily implied in his tone.

Sakumo frowned, eyes trailing contemplatively from his son towards me. He nodded. "I see."

After a quick chat between Minato and his former sponsor, Sakumo was off on his way (he had apparently been searching for Jiraiya) while Minato ushered me back into the training grounds.

I suppressed a groan in reaction to the awaiting boredom.

But truly, though I had wanted to go on an adventure that day, the surprise meeting with the Hatakes _was_ the start of mine.

* * *

That wasn't the last time I saw Sakumo. Not in the least. In fact, he made his way back to the training ground the very next day (though a certain mini Kakashi was absent).

I observed the man, my eyes heavy with sleep.

My brother blinked. Both Chou and Fugaku seemed confused.

Jiraiya himself was the first of Team Jiraiya to recover, striding forward with a big grin on his face. "Sakumo! What brings you to my humble grounds?"

The silver-haired man snorted. "I was here at your 'humble grounds' yesterday, but you were off at your usual peeking site and I didn't want to subject my son to that sorry sight."

Jiraiya shook his head in mock sympathy. "Poor brat, having a prude for a father."

Sakumo scowled. "Hey!"

My attention wandered somewhere else after that. I couldn't help it; the novelty of seeing the Hatake had worn off, and Minato had woke me up earlier than usual that day. I was both tired and sleepy.

Despite my scrutiny to all things Minato-related, I didn't even pay attention much when Sakumo had taken Minato away for a walk. In fact, that was the last thing I remembered before I had fallen asleep for a much needed nap.

When I woke up again, it was to the sound of soft humming.

… Wait. That wasn't right. Minato only hummed when I couldn't fall asleep. I've never woken up to humming before.

Warily opening my eyes, I was greeted by the sight of a pretty woman who was pulling up the covers of my blanket.

…

Wait …

I squeaked in alarm.

Immediately, wide grey eyes turned to look at me. That was the wrong thing to do. Completely scared out of my wits, I panicked and screamed.

_Please_ don't tell me I got kidnapped or something. I was just an orphan; the only person who would kidnap me was Danzo!

... And really, that thought did not make me feel any better!

"Ah! Oh, baby, shhh, don't cry." The lady tried to soothe me to no avail. Seconds later, with my horrified wailing still at full blast, a blur of silver rushed into the room.

"Hey! Miho-chan, don't be upset." I blinked, halfway through a sob as I looked up at a clearly flustered Sakumo. "We met yesterday, you remember me, right?"

Strong arms scooped me up and began to rock me awkwardly. I let my sob die down as my mind whirled in confusion. Sakumo ―the White Fang wouldn't kidnap me, right?

"I talked with Minato earlier this morning. He was still looking for a babysitter for you and I offered. You're around the age of my Kakashi and I thought you would be great playmates …" Sakumo babbled on nervously, even as the pretty lady ―maybe his wife?― looked on worriedly.

I blinked.

Huh.

… Wait.

Was the man saying that he was going to babysit me? The White Fang himself was going to babysit me? What?

Sakumo stopped rambling when he realized I had stopped crying (from the shock, the White Fang, my babysitter?). Offering me a nervous smile, he gave me to the pretty lady, who gently wiped away my tears.

"…Dada? Mama?"

I blinked at the childish voice and craned my head to see baby Kakashi sitting smack dab in the middle of the doorway.

The pretty lady placed me back onto the bed before walking over and picking the baby boy up. "Oh, sorry about that Kaka-chan. Did we wake you up?"

The boy nodded, his sleepy eyes zeroing on me. Trying to gather the broken pieces of my dignity, I gave him a wave and a smile.

Sakumo picked me up and walked over to him. "Kakashi, you got a new playmate! Little Miho-chan's going to stay with us during the day now, and occasionally during the nights."

Kakashi eyed at me for a few seconds, before he perhaps recognized me as the baby from the day before. He turned his head away. I giggled at his snobbish behavior. The pretty lady ―I mean, Kakashi's mother― cooed.

And that, my fellow ninja, was the start of a beautiful friendship.

.

.

.

( _cough_ , please notice the use of heavy sarcasm…)

* * *

"Muu~" I whined softly as I crawled after Kakashi. The baby slowed down slightly and gave me a glare.

"Go," he said, pointing at the thing we were chasing; a pretty butterfly.

I pouted again and got ready to follow, even though I was cracking up on the inside. Who knew that cold, apathetic, _genius_ Kakashi once liked to chase _butterflies_?

Well, I didn't. And truth to be told, I have learned so much more about our favorite scarecrow in the month I've been with him than when I watched the anime. The thought almost made me giddy with happiness.

I mean, oh gosh, the possibilities with all the blackmail I've got over the boy… With how baby Kakashi had initially treated me, I was so ready to turn Kakashi into my henchman in five or so years.

Luckily for me, the baby had finally grown used to my presence. Now, though he would still throw me irritated glares from time to time (I never knew a baby could glare that much), he no longer pretended that I was invisible and not there.

At least I wasn't mentally a baby. Or else I would have definitely been upset. As it is now, the glares the little Hatake gives me make me squeal more than they scare me.

Suddenly, someone before me scooped up Kakashi. Alarmed, I looked up only to blink at the sight of Tsunade and Sakumo.

"Hey there, squirt," the busty medic greeted Kakashi. Glancing down, she blinked in surprise as she took note of me as well. "Oh, and if it isn't the little Namikaze as well."

I happily cooed in response as Sakumo picked me up so I could be on the same level as the baby Hatake. Sakumo grinned.

"I offered to be her babysitter," the White Fang explained. Tsunade snorted.

"Jiraiya's brat actually agreed? Jiraiya keeps lamenting about how the baby girl's got his genius student wrapped around her finger." The medic tightened her hold on Kakashi when the annoyed baby tried to wriggle his way out of her grasp and gave Kakashi a mock glare.

"Well, he was going to start missions soon, you know? He really needed a babysitter and I know Minato-kun pretty well." Sakumo tickled my stomach and smiled when I giggled.

Tsunade appeared thoughtful. "You were his sponsor, weren't you?" Sakumo blinked.

"I was. Minato-kun had started the academy late, but he showed an aptitude for it that not many people could ever obtain. Since I was one of the only ninja he knew, he came to me and asked me to sponsor him. It was obvious he could handle it."

Tsunade hummed in agreement as she set down Kakashi who crawled over to his dad's feet. Sakumo took that as a cue to put me down as well, and both adults walked away to continue their conversation. I giggled slightly at the other baby's put-off and aggravated appearance. After all, we had long lost the butterfly.

Still, listening to the conversation between Tsunade and Sakumo was worth losing a butterfly. It brought up many questions that I had briefly wondered about before. Like, what or who was a sponsor? What did Sakumo mean when he said he had sponsored my brother? Did he mean financially or something?

"…Mi?" I blinked out of my daze when something poked my arm. Turning, I found myself face to face with an inquisitive Kakashi.

I mentally paused and rethought that sentence. How can a baby even be inquisitive…?

"Ka," I said, giving him a smile that basically told him I was fine. After enduring a searching look from the Hatake, the baby shrugged before spotting another butterfly flitting around us. I suppressed a sigh as Kakashi immediately started to chase it.

Here we go again.

* * *

When my brother showed up to pick me up, I could not suppress a giggle at the sight of him. On the other hand, the White Fang out-right roared with laughter.

My neat-freak of a brother resembled a tree.

Literally.

His clothes and basically his whole body was covered in brown mud. Additionally, instead of his usual bright blonde hair, Minato's head was covered with green leaves.

I giggled again. My brother's blush deepened.

Releasing one last chuckled, Sakumo wiped away some tears from the corners of his eyes. "What mission was it? Finding Tora? Walking the Inuzuka dogs?"

My brother winced. "Inuzuka. Jiraiya-sensei also told us to work on our chakra control while we did the mission though."

Chakra. That was something new that was exclusively of the world of Naruto. I had been curious to know if the chakra explanation part of those SI fanfics were true. I remembered some saying how the self inserts had more awareness/better chakra control, because it had felt like a foreign entity. On the other hand, there were fanfics that depicted the other end of the spectrum, and said that you couldn't feel it because like blood; it was something that moved naturally within you. My experience… was something that combined both of those explanations?

You see, in the beginning, I wasn't aware of chakra at all. No matter how much I scrunched up my face or attempted to meditate, I could never feel this elusive life force. And after a few months, I had believed that the fanfics depicting how we couldn't feel it were true.

But then, a few months ago, Minato came home covered with leaves (he had apparently been working on the leaf chakra exercise, but, well, I didn't know that now did I?). Feeling a bit baffled, I had reached out and touched one.

It shocked me.

No, I'm not kidding. I felt as if I had gotten an electric shock. Or maybe my hand had been burned. But before my brother could even panic, the feeling had faded away.

After that, however, life as I'd known it changed. It didn't take me long to feel something inside of me, something that felt as if it were moving. It took me a great deal of time (an embarrassingly long time) to realize that the feeling slithering in me was chakra.

... Huh? What does chakra feel like?

Ahh, it's something that's hard to put into words. Like, you won't know it unless you feel it? Chakra is warm… most of the time. If you concentrate hard enough, you can feel how it flows within your body. It sometimes feels like fire burning. Other times, it feels as if it's freezing.

Chakra could be compared to spiritual blood.

But enough about the how-to's of chakra. Back to my tree, er, I mean my brother. Minato was clearly a genius. I never knew beginners could channel chakra to their hair like that…

With a steadily reddening face (Sakumo is ruthless in his teasing), Minato bowed and thanked the Hatake senior for taking care of me. Sakumo, finally easing off the jokes, offered and helped put me in my stroller (seeing as my brother was filthy).

I laughed at him a lot that day.

To this day, my poor brother still doesn't know why a leafy tree can set me off into guffaws.

* * *

It had been a totally normal day when my baby companion decided he wanted to grow up.

I had been babbling nonsense to the boy (I think by now he had acquired the ability to tune me out) when suddenly, Kakashi grabbed the couch. I blinked and paused in my rambling, bewildered.

Kakashi didn't even notice when I stopped talking.

It was only when I watched Hatake Junior try and pull himself up, did things start to _click_. First, I gaped at the sight, which lost me a few precious seconds and gave Kakashi enough time to pull himself to his feet. Knowing my duty, I turned around and ignoring the slight guilt, threw my rubber ball at Sakumo's face.

He yelped, flailing slightly before looking down and freezing at the sight of his son standing up. _Uhuh_. I smiled cheerfully. The guy could thank me later.

Holding my breath, I watched with wide eyes as Kakashi let go of the couch and took an unsteady step forward. And then another. The toddler took one last step (hey, third time's the charm, right?) before his knees gave out on him and he was scooped up by a whooping and totally ecstatic Sakumo.

I added my squeal into the commotion. After all, that had been super _cute_.

Later, after Sakumo had paraded Kakashi throughout the house twice, the baby-turning-toddler was finally released back to me. Unable to help myself at the sight of the ruffled, obnoxiously cute and blushing baby, I cooed softly and attempted to pinch Kakashi's cheek.

… Keyward: attempted.

Unfortunately for me, I overestimated my body's ability to balance itself and instead of leaning over slightly, I flailed and fell onto Kakashi. Feeling slight déjà vu (didn't this happen to Naruto and Sasuke at the beginning of the show…?), I quickly turned my face.

Smart choice. Instead of kissing my playmate straight on, it only resulted in Kakashi kissing my cheek. On the other hand, the squeal of Kakashi's mother at the sight and the flash of a camera had me internally face-palming.

Here's to hoping my brother never, _ever_ sees that picture.

(Kakashi is a lucky guy, since he's only like, what, a year old? He had no idea what 'kissing' even was, and so was not embarrassed at all.

On the other hand, I could not stop blushing for the rest of the hour.)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Facts:
> 
> The fluff at the end was there for that: fluff. Since Miho is a baby and all; fluff is inevitable. This fic is going to stay Gen until Miho's much older.
> 
> Sponsors are the ninjas who sponsor a kid so they could fast-track. Although entrance fees for orphans are covered by the Hokage, if you want to move up a grade you must wow a ninja and get them to take responsibility. Being sponsored is a huge thing: if the kid does bad then that hurts the reputation of the sponsor. This is why when news got out that the White Fang actually sponsored someone, Minato was treated like a genius. Didn't help that he was awesome.
> 
> In addition, please check out the next part in this series, the Picture Galore! It contains (fanart) all the secret photos Minato managed to capture~


	5. Interlude One

**Part One: Baby Days**

* * *

"Behind every great kid, is a Parent who is pretty sure they're screwing it up."

― Anonymous

* * *

"Man, that was a really good breakfast …" Inuzuka Tsume sighed in pure contentment as she rubbed her bulging stomach. Beside her, Hyuuga Hizashi rolled his lilac eyes at the satisfied girl as he grabbed her dirty and towering plates.

Diligently washing the many dishes, Minato kept one ear open to the conversation of his friends even as he passed dish after dish to Nara Shikaku, who had been bullied into drying duty.

Yesterday had been the last day of the Academy before their Winter Break, and the group of friends had planned a grand sleep over. Although they all had approximately six months left of class, it was the last break they would all have before they started their ninja career. And since all of his friends were clan children, Minato was sure that they wouldn't even see each other during the break, as their parents would all want to teach them some of their clan techniques.

Of course, that didn't apply to Minato. After all, he was the only one there without family …

"Do you want me to take over?"

Blinking in surprise, Minato turned around to face Uchiha Mikoto. The older girl gave the boy a sweet smile, even though her eyes were shadowed with slight worry.

… Ah, did Minato drift off into a daze again? And he thought he had been getting better at paying attention …

Schooling his face into a small smile, the boy gently turned down Mikoto's offer. "It's okay Uchiha-chan. I'm fine; I did volunteer to help."

Slouching comfortably on the couch, Yamanaka Inoichi snorted. "Again with addressing us by our last names, Minato? We never did break you out of that habit."

Uchiha Fugaku shook his head, lips twitching up even as he strived to be nonchalant. "I still turn my head whenever he talks to Mikoto."

On the other side, Akimichi Chouza laughed as he put away the dried plates he got from Shikaku. "If you think that's bad, how about me and Chou? He calls both of us Akimichi-san!"

Hyuuga Hiashi nodded in mock agreement. "And Hizashi and I as well."

A pause before ...

Everybody snickered as Minato blushed a delicate pink. Teasing their dear resident prodigy was a past-time all of them enjoyed. After all, Minato was always so polite and awkward; it was becoming an ongoing challenge for them just to make him blush and fumble.

Shikaku shook his head at his friends as he dried yet another dish. Sighing, he summed up everything with his trademark term.

" _Troublesome_."

And Minato ...

.

.

.

Minato laughed.

( _Although he doesn't always show it, Minato love_ loved _his friends._

_After all, though he himself had never experienced the lovely phenomenon before, Minato was certain that they were what_ family _felt like._ )

* * *

"Minato-kun?"

Minato blinked in surprise at Hōki's voice. Peering into the room, he saw the matron of the orphanage sitting on the couch in the living room, studying some sheets of paper. Minato's forehead furrowed; why was Hōki waiting for him to come back?

Although his pseudo mother used to greet him at the door whenever he got home, that had quickly become non-existent as the boy grew up. After all, Minato was but one of the many children at the orphanage. And he was the oldest as well.

Hōki had tried her very best to be the mother Minato never had, but she was only human. She couldn't be there for him all the time whilst looking after the other children too. Thus, by now the ten-year old was quite independent.

"Yes, Hōki-san?" Minato stepped into the living room and sat down at Hōki's gesture to make himself comfortable.

After a few seconds of stilted silence, the matron sighed. "Minato-kun…do you still want a family?"

Minato's heart jumped into his throat as he choked on the air. Immediately, his eyes darted over to the sheets of paper in Hōki's hands. After all, the boy was praised for his prodigious mind. Putting the facts together wasn't too hard.

"O-Of course I do," Minato levelled his wide blue orbs at Hōki. "Do you mean…"

Hōki sighed again. "It isn't what you're thinking of, Minato-kun. Nobody has come for you, but…" The matron stood up. "Follow me."

Perking up slightly (after Minato felt his hope being crushed at Hōki's admittance to the fact that no one wanted him), the boy followed the woman to … the empty nursery? The youngest child in the orphanage was currently three years old, and was thus too old for a crib. Going to that room was not something Minato expected.

… And certainly, the tiny baby in the supposedly empty room was something Minato hadn't been expecting either.

Minato gaped.

The tiny thing wrapped in blankets had to be a newborn. It ― _he/she_ ― didn't even look a month old! With the child looking sound asleep, Minato leaned forward and scrutinized the baby, taking in the pink skin and the oddly familiar gold puffs of hair ...

… Wait. Minato's mind whirled as the pieces began to fit together. It couldn't be …

His head snapped up to look at Hōki. Said matron was smiling at him softly, before she handed him the sheets of paper she had been holding onto.

"Minato-kun, meet Miho-chan, your younger sister."

* * *

Her birthday was December 25th.

That was only roughly a week ago.

His little sister had been born a week ago and he didn't even know.

… He had a _sister_.

Minato pushed down the urge to laugh hysterically as the tiny thing ―no not a thing, its, _she's_ his _sister―_ cooed and reached for him. The boy didn't dare pick her up again, not after that fiasco of almost dropping her. Minato didn't know what he would do if he accidentally gave brain-damage to his only known relative.

The boy flipped through the DNA tests absent-mindedly, before his eyes settled back onto the note that had been with his sister. He ran his hands over the grooves in the paper, looking at the handwriting almost hungrily.

You would have thought that little Miho would be perhaps his half-sister or something. But no. Namikaze Miho's DNA tests show that the little baby was Minato's full-blooded sister. Why his ― _their_ ― parents decided to have another child just to orphan her, Minato would never understand.

But that meant that the small, handwritten note, with only Miho's name and her birthday on the other side, could be from his parents. And though Minato had long accepted that his parents would never come for him, looking at the unfamiliar handwriting still made his heart ache.

Six years. Minato arrived at the orphanage when he was four, amnesic and remembering nothing but his own name. He was taken in, and he waited and waited. Day after day. He waited for six years, just to see his family again.

Minato had always been alone. Every day, he yearned for his family. Even now …

A soft whimper snapped Minato out of his thoughts. Immediately bending down to look at the small baby, Minato took one look at the glistening blue orbs ―so much like his own― and felt his heart swell.

But he wasn't alone any more. Minato had found his family, and he'll be damned if he let his sister feel the same loneliness he once had. Surrendering his hand to the baby's chubby fingers in hopes of placating her, Minato made a lifelong vow.

He was going to be the best brother _ever_.

* * *

Minato crouched in the branches, frowning even as his mind worked furiously. He dissected everything his new maybe-if-they-passed-sensei, Jiraiya, told him and no matter what angle he looked at it, he always came to the same conclusion. The test had a hidden purpose.

Obviously, both of his teammates thought the same, because within the next two minutes both of them tracked him down.

"Minato," Fugaku greeted. "What did the Red Menace call you the first time you met?"

Minato spluttered and turned bright red.

"Something along the lines of a 'weak, flaky, dandelion weed who has a stupid looking smile', if I remember correctly." Chou commented lightly. He took another look at Minato's red face. "This is Minato-kun alright, nobody can blush that shade of red."

Minato hid his face into his hands. "Can we stop using that as our code? Please?" Both his teammates chuckled softly.

Taking a few deep breaths, Minato straightened up with all the signs of his rosy blush gone. No time to dilly daddle; they did have a time limit after all. "This test is trying to turn us against each other."

"Hn." Fugaku agreed.

Chou frowned, eyes thoughtful. "Aren't Genin teams always a group of three?"

Minato nodded, blue eyes flashing. "He said there was a sixty-six percent chance of failure, and Jiraiya-san implied that we will fail, but as a team. I'm guessing that the real test here is to see if we would turn on each other."

"Because really, what Genin can take on a Jounin?" Fugaku commented wryly, finishing his blonde friend's explanation.

Minato's eyes glinted with an unusual tint of mischief. "Genin aren't expected to take on a Jounin and win. But the three of us …"

The three not-yet Genin shared a small smile. "We can give them a good show."

* * *

Fugaku was sneaking worried glances at his blond friend.

Chou was openly showing concern.

Jiraiya resisted ―and failed― the urge to groan. Where oh where was his little genius? Who left this incompetent, clumsy, and dazed _replica_ in his place?

"Okay, that's it!" Chou exclaimed when Minato had dipped his brush into black paint instead of white for the third time in a row. Thanks to their friend's absent-mindedness, their simple D-ranked mission of painting the fence was taking way longer than usual.

"Minato-kun, what's wrong?"

The blonde blinked, looking a bit surprised when his whole team turned on him and demanded an answer. He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, everyone. I'm just a bit worried …"

Fugaku frowned at that while Jiraiya placed his hand on Minato's head and gave his hair a ruffle. "Kid, spit it out. What's wrong?"

Minato sighed. "I'm, uh, moving out next week, and well …" The blonde ducked his head.

"My little sister!" The normally calm boy suddenly blurted out. "I don't know who can take care of her!"

Silence.

Jiraiya hummed, taking in his student's truly worried face. "Next week will be dedicated to training, since you brats already ran enough missions to request a C-rank. You can bring your sister to our training sessions if you need more time to look for a babysitter."

... Hey, well, nobody said that Jiraiya was a bad person. He was just a bad sensei!

"R-Really?" Minato's eyes shone. Jiraiya could almost see a wagging tail behind his genius student as the blonde thanked him profusely.

On the other hand, Fugaku exchanged surprised glances with Chou. When did Minato get a _sister_?

* * *

Apparently, Jiraiya-sensei took a bigger liking to Miho than Minato had originally thought.

The man got his sister a toad _onesie_.

… Did Minato mention that Miho looked adorable? No? Well, she _does_. Minato took at least one hundred pictures that day.

"Hatake-san?" Minato inquired politely as he followed the man.

Sakumo hummed. "Minato-kun, you're still looking for a babysitter, right?" Minato blinked, looking surprised before his forehead furrowed in thought.

Actually, he was really at his wits' end. Team Jiraiya was going to start their C-Rank missions soon, and Minato was _still_ looking for a babysitter. At this rate, Minato might really have to give his sister to Hōki ...

"Yes, I am." Minato admitted, the tips of his lips turning down slightly. Hōki-san would take Miho in, but it wouldn't be permanent. On the other hand, maybe one of those 24/7 daycares could work ... ?

Sakumo laughed. "Well, in that case, I can volunteer for the role!"

.

.

.

Minato blinked in shock. "E-Eh?" Did he just hear what he thought he heard ... ?

"I asked my wife yesterday and she agreed. Miho-chan would be the perfect playmate for my little Kakashi." Sakumo explained, looking quite amused at Minato's stunned face. It wasn't everyday he got to see the prodigy being so surprised.

Slowly, Minato gathered his thoughts before beaming. This was almost too good to be true. After all, Sakumo was one of the only adults he inexplicitly trusted!

His Miho would be safe with him.

* * *

Chou bounced the upset toddler on his thigh as Fugaku made dinner, after finally convincing their last team-mate to take a well-needed nap.

It was one of the horrendous times for a new parent.

Miho was teething.

In response, Minato looked like he hadn't slept in weeks.

Chou sighed as he grabbed the bag he brought to Minato's new apartment (a nice place; small but tidy and homey) before taking out a new teething toy. Miho latched onto it immediately as if it was her lifeline before stuffing it in her mouth. Chou smiled as the child quieted down.

It was understandable for Minato to become so bedraggled. After all, Miho wasn't a fussy baby. She almost never cried and was extremely well-behaved. For the usual angel-like child to become so demonic, it only goes to show how terrible the teething process was.

Fugaku stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Did it work?"

Chou nodded, giving his team-mate a tired smile. "Yeah, like a charm. Her fever's gone down too."

"Great," With that, Fugaku went back to making dinner ... But Chou still caught the small smile on the teen's face.

Really, Minato's little sister had them all wrapped around her tiny thumb. It was almost laughable.

A pat on his cheek (that didn't leave any saliva, thank god Miho wasn't like his many cousins) redirected his attention back onto the baby. Cerulean eyes, just like Minato's, stared up at him in curiosity even as she nibbled on the fake kunai.

Chou smiled at her. "Hang in there, Miho-chan. And be good for your brother, okay?"

The big blue eyes studied him for another moment, before the baby made a sound of laughter. Chou relaxed and chuckled as well.

He couldn't wait to see Minato's face when he comes down and sees his precious sister chewing on a kunai.

* * *

"Dandelion Head, do you read me? Over."

"Yes, _Fashion Disaster_ , loud and clear, over."

A sigh came in from their last team-mate. "Guys, break it up. Target is 4 meters away from Dandelion, over."

Everyone paused as they let that information sunk in. This time the sigh came from another person. "Okay then. Fashion will close in from the top, while Butterfly will block of the exit. I'll engage and subdue the target."

You could almost hear the grimace in the words.

Both boys hid a spark of sympathy as they moved into position. Their last team-mate was really unlucky to be the one who had to do this again.

... But on the bright side, it wasn't _them_ who had to engage the target!

"In position, Dandelion Head."

"Same."

"Alright then, in three, two, one ..."

The boys and all the other people in the vicinity winced as chaos erupted in the form of screeches, howls, and restrained (but polite ... nobody knew how the boy does it) curses. Finally, when everything died down, Fugaku and Chou approached their pitiable team member.

Minato was covered in many red and angry scratches. His jacket was also sacrificed to hold the little cat they were assigned to capture. All in all, it was clear who had the upper hand in their fight.

Minato grimaced. "That was _not_ a D-ranked mission." He held his cargo warily as he hissed out the words, his infallible composure finally shaken.

"... I'll buy you a new jacket." Fugaku said as he eyed the tatters that was once Minato's clothes.

Chou smiled hesitantly. "I'll learn medi-jutsu."

Minato sighed. Capturing Raion was one of the most difficult missions, hands down. Now he knew why the cute and tiny furball was called 'lion'.

(On the bright side, that was how Team Jiraiya gained a medic.)

* * *

They were in their daily three-way sparring match when Sakumo visited with the children. Well, this itself wouldn't be an anomaly; the older Hatake visited Team Jiraiya's training sessions regularly with both Miho and Kakashi in attendance. When asked why, Sakumo had just sprouted some bullshit about 'watching your big brothers play ninja!' and how the kids could learn from their awesomeness.

However, this visit was _special_. Minato could feel it in his bones, and even his never-wrong intuition was tingling in warning.

Thus, Minato was _totally_ justified in peering at his little sister (consequently being almost skewered by Chou's kunai).

Chou yelped when he saw his friend completely lose focus in their spar, his reflexes not fast enough to abort the hand that was flicking his kunai. Thankfully, Fugaku, who had originally lunged in to prevent their youngest member from escaping, successfully blocked the knife that had almost made its way into Minato's chest.

Both boys took a few seconds to stare at their unharmed friend in relief, before it quickly turned into anger.

"Minato!" Fugaku hissed, eyes glaring a truly worthy Uchiha Glare (c). Minato ... Minato ignored him as he continued to stare.

"Shh!" The blonde urged, eyes still latched onto what had captured his attention in the first place. Both his team-mates, recognizing the stubborn set of Minato's jaw, reluctantly followed his gaze to ...

Miho.

("Of course," Fugaku grumbled under his breath as Chou shushed him this time, looking just as enraptured as his friend.)

Miho, who was currently holding onto Kakashi's hand as she leaned forward on her wobbly knees. Kakashi by then had long started walking, and Minato watched with wide eyes as his little sister braced one tiny foot onto the ground and heaved herself up.

The clearing was quiet. Even both Jiraiya and Sakumo had stopped talking.

Kakashi did his job as a human pillar well. Once he saw that his playmate was on both her feet, the older toddler tugged the girl forward in a step.

Miho took one unsteady step. And then another. And then, letting go of her walking cane's hand (Kakashi looked almost affronted), Miho took a few more steps on her own before toddling to a stop.

She looked up, big blue eyes shining as she made eye contact with Minato. Smiling a toothy smile, Minato watched in awe as the tiny child threw her chubby arms out wide, before opening her mouth and―

"Nii-chwan!"

―spoke her first word.

Pandemonium exploded as Minato melted into a pile of goo. He got to see Miho's first steps and her first word!

Her first word, which was big brother! Minato couldn't stop smiling.

(Of course, he was later crying crocodile tears after the commotion settled down and his team-mates decided it was time to show him just _why_ Minato wasn't suppose to space out in spars.)

 

**Author's Note:**

> To be honest, I used to avoid reading SI fics like the plague. Now I'm starting to write one. Aha. I'm super grateful for those who are embarking on this journey with me!
> 
> Please go to the next installment of the series for a collection of fanart!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Picture Galore](https://archiveofourown.org/works/7649569) by [Sakhyu](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sakhyu/pseuds/Sakhyu)




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